BSF Expansion Faces Scrutiny

The Supreme Court of India is set to hear the dispute over the expansion of the Border Security Force (BSF) jurisdiction in Panjab. On 11 Oct 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification expanding the jurisdiction of the BSF in Panjab, West Bengal, and Assam to 50 km from 15 km. Among the three states, only Panjab challenged the notification. At the time, INC was in power in Panjab. Panjab’s total area is 50,362 km². The Indo-Pakistan border in Panjab is 553 km. The INC argued that the 50 km change meant over 25,000 km², half of Panjab, had come under the BSF’s jurisdiction. This has compromised the state’s exclusive powers to legislate on matters involving the police and public order. INC also claimed that the notification was issued without consulting with any of the states concerned. Shortly after the notification was released, then Chief Minister of Panjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, called it ‘a direct attack on federalism.’ This year, owing to the Ram Temple consecration on 22 Jan, the central forces sounded a red alert Operation Sard Hawa (Cold Winds) for 15 days instead of the usual ten days around Republic Day. However, on Republic Day, as is the custom, at Jammu, the border forces from India and Pakistan exchanged sweets and pleasantries. Towards the eastern border, the India-Myanmar border is 1,643 kms. Given reports of rampant infiltration through that border, the Indian government wants to fence all of it. While Meitei militia groups favor the move, Kukis, Zou and Naga tribes are opposing it in Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram.

The death of Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda on 15 Jun 2023 in Birmingham has echoes of the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, according to Michael Polak, the lawyer involved in both cases. Polak wrote to UK Home Secretary James Cleverly demanding a full investigation into Khanda’s sudden death. He said that Khanda may have been exposed to lethal radiation as part of an alleged operation to eliminate enemies of the Indian state. His official cause of death was said to be acute myeloid leukemia, a finding backed by West Midlands Police. Polak claims detectives did not conduct even the most basic inquiries into the case (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 4, Story 2). Meanwhile, the Czech Justice Ministry said on 18 Jan that the Prague appeals court ruled that Nikhil Gupta, accused in the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun assassination plot, can be extradited to the US. Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blazek will take the final decision. A Czech news site said Gupta argued his identity was mistaken (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 12, Story 1).  In the US, the FBI issued a PSA on transnational intimidations in Panjabi, urging citizens to report threats or intimidations. In Panjab, Amritsar police registered a complaint against Pannun over his objectionable remark on Durgiana Temple, in which he claimed it has no historical significance. ‘The temple should be closed and keys should be handed over to Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) as Amritsar belongs to Guru Ramdas.’ SGPC member Bibi Kiranjot Kaur urged Sikh bodies to pay special attention to the case, lest the communal situation in Panjab deteriorates.

On 16 Dec, the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) released 2021 census data on Sikhs in England and Wales. As many as 526,210 people opted for Sikh as their chosen ethnicity. Of this figure, 18.6% (94,718) identified themselves as Sikh through ethnic and religious questions, 0.3% (1,725) exclusively through the ethnic question, and 81.1% (426,230) through the voluntary religion question. Of the people who identified as Sikh by ethnic group only, 55.4% did not report their religion, 13.6% reported their religion as Muslim, 12.5% reported no religion, and 8.7% reported their religion as Christian. The ONS concluded there is a 22% increase in the number of Sikhs from the 2011 Census. The accuracy of the data is questionable. How can a person define themselves ethnically as Sikh but not report their religion or report it as Muslim or Christian or no religion? The issue is with how the questionnaire is structured for the ethnic group question: Indian, Pakistani, with an additional write-in box. Lack of a distinct box likely resulted in around a 400K undercount of Sikhs. The suggestion for the 2031 Census is an inclusive, non-territorial approach based on self-identification, birth, political, and religious reasons. In other news, on 23 Jan, an annual survey of British Sikhs revealed that only 21% are very proud to have Rishi Sunak as PM, despite his Panjabi heritage. The survey highlighted a larger understanding that the Hindu community would benefit from Sunak's premiership, while Sikhs would not. The 10th British Sikh Report provides statistical information about the needs of British Sikhs, including their voting intentions and financial struggles.

Investment in Panjab declined by over 85.23% during the first fiscal year (FY) of the AAP-led government's tenure in Panjab, said a study conducted by the Export Promotion Council (EPC) of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), and the Confederation of Organic Food Producers & Marketing Agencies (COII). According to the study, Panjab received an investment of only $420M in fiscal year 2022-23 compared to the $2.85B investment received in fiscal year 2021-22. Dr D S Rawat, chairman of the MSME EPC, released the study on 25 Jan and explained its objective, saying, ‘Investment, development and growth in Progressive Panjab 2018-19 to 2022-23 was to create awareness on policies of the state, attract investment in large, micro, small, and medium sectors, and generate employment opportunities.’ Usually investments are long term propositions and often new governments benefit from or lose to policies of their predecessors. As this is the first term of the AAP government, they could claim their predecessors did not do well. But in 2018-19, the second year of the previous Panjab INC government attracted investments of $5.2B. After that, the COVID-19 pandemic years started. That sets the standard for AAP. From how the government behaves – constant electioneering in other states, propaganda, emptying state coffers, misusing Central government schemes – the prognosis for AAP’s second year does not look good. For example, almost a year since the Center stopped National Health Mission (NHM) funds to Panjab following a tussle over branding of Aam Aadmi Clinics and the lack of resolution, the state government is now pumping $6.5M a month to keep the NHM programs afloat (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 1, Story 7).

After the consecration of the Ram Mandir on 22 Jan, in Panjab, Hindutva groups have targeted the Left and the Rationalists. (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 4, Story 1). There have been five cases so far against those who talked about Lord Ram on social media without deifying him, filed against Section 295 and 295A of the Indian Penal Code as ‘deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.’ On 19 Jan, president of the Tarksheel (Rationalist) Society Surjit Dhaudar was booked in a complaint by Shiv Sena (Panjab) president Rajiv Tandon. Bhartiya Kissan Union (Indian Farmers Union, Ekta Ugrahan) raised its voice against the charges. In another development, social media influencer Bhana Sidhu, critical of CM Bhagwant Mann and known to recover peoples’ money from fake immigration agents, was arrested on what seemed like a fabricated case of demanding a $120 bribe from a travel agent. He was allegedly tortured by police. As soon as he got bail, a person from Ludhiana claimed Sidhu stole his chain, and there was an additional case of him using a caste slur against a police official. Sidhu is supposed to be a close aide to social activist Lakha Sidhana, and close to slain singer Sidhu Moosewala. On 29 Jan a big crowd gathered at village Kot Dhunna in Barnala, protesting his arrest and the three new cases against him. Farmer unions and opposition joined voices calling out AAP’s vigilantism. (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 3, story 5).

Almost 900 Agriculture Department officials, including Assistant Sub-Inspectors, Agriculture Development Officers, Agriculture Extension Officers, and Agriculture Officers, were issued show-cause notices by the department in the ‘missing crop residue management’ machines case. The officers were asked to send their replies within 15 days. Machines were distributed in 2018-19 and 2021-22, under the centrally sponsored Promotion of Agriculture Mechanisation for In Situ Management of Crop Residue Scheme. Of the 90,422 machines, 11,000 were found missing. $17M worth of machines never reached farmers, and funds were embezzled, allegedly by submitting fake bills. In the last four years, the Center has allocated $142M to the state government for the purchase of machines. The bulk show-cause notices prompted officials to go on a pen-down strike. Jaswinder Singh Brar, Chairman, Punjab Agriculture Officers Association, said ‘We are being issued notices for no fault. There could be a number of reasons why the machines are not in possession of farmers on the day of physical verification…[they] could have been sent to another place.’ This could be an issue of distribution procedure, verification, or actual corruption, but it has bearing on the yearly allegations against Panjab over stubble burning, especially during the winter, when paddy is harvested and wheat is being sowed. This allegation is largely misplaced, but it tarnishes the image of the state nevertheless, especially when Panjab is known as the ‘breadbasket of India.’ (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 4, Story 6).

On 26 Jan, Republic Day of India, on Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM)’s call for a Kisan Tractor Parade, farmers in 484 districts of 27 states and Union Territories participated. Apart from farmers unions and organizations, the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and independent Federations and Associations supported and participated in the parade, thus demonstrating farmer-worker unity at the ground level. Students, youth, women, and others also joined in solidarity. SKM said in a release that participants pledged to ‘intensify the struggle against the pro-corporate, anti-farmer policies of the Modi government and strengthen the secular and democratic character of the Republic of India.’ In Panjab, more than 100 Bhartiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda) farmers were detained in Mansa. These farmers wanted to show black flags to state Revenue and Water Supplies Minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa, who had arrived to unfurl the national flag. Calling for a Grameen Bharat Bandh (Rural India Strike) on 16 Feb, SKM noted that the corporatization of agriculture has led to an agrarian crisis that has resulted in 100,474 deaths by suicide among farmers and laborers from 2014-2022, based on the national Crime Records Bureau data. Though $176B worth of debt was written off in the last nine years for corporations, not a single rupee of farmers’ debt has been waived. SKM condemned the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare over their report, which revealed they surrendered $12.7B over the last five years because they did not spend the amount.

Since the immense success of the Panjab-driven Green Revolution in the 1960s-80s when India achieved food sufficiency, the trend of bumper harvests continues. Yet, India keeps falling on the Global Hunger Index, currently occupying 11/125 position. This is a result of gaps between produce and population and distribution systems. Now, a study (part 2 and 3 linked below) led by Indian Council of Agricultural Research scientists has found the grains Indians eat have lost food value. The population is increasingly accumulating toxins, which is predicted to worsen India’s burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD) by 2040. The study reports that breeding programs focused on developing high-yielding varieties have altered the nutrient profiles of rice and wheat, the two major staple food grains, to the extent that their dietary significance has diminished. In chasing yield, plant genetics have been altered so much that they no longer do the fundamental job of delivering nutrition from soil to grain. Scientists have assessed the health impact of this historical shift in the nutrient profiles of rice and wheat and warn that poor staple grains could worsen the country’s growing burden of NCDs. The study’s findings corroborate a report by the Indian Council of Medical Research that indicates a 25% rise in NCDs among the Indian population from 1990 to 2016. Estimates show that India is home to one-third of the 2 billion global population suffering from micronutrient deficiency. Part 2, Part 3.

Towards the 2024 general elections, there have been major developments in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) by opposition parties to take on BJP. Chief Ministers (CMs) from Panjab and Bengal have expressed the intention to fight it alone in their respective states. AAP Panjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Trinamool Congress (TMC) West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee are not keen on staying in the alliance. Banerjee said, ‘I gave INC many proposals but they rejected them. I am not concerned about what will be done in the [rest of the] country. We will fight alone.’ The INC reacted differently towards the belligerent allies. While the INC did not respond to Mann because they are dealing with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, they are trying to placate Banerjee who is both head of TMC and CM. The varied response appears to be the Congress’ strategy to push a different model for seat-sharing in each state. In Haryana, Arvind Kejriwal said AAP will fight Lok Sabha elections as part of INDIA but will go for assembly elections alone. Also, within the last week, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar of Janta Dal (United), or JD(U), broke his alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and his commitment to INDIA to instead join hands with BJP. Kumar became the CM of Bihar for the 9th time. Since 2013, when Kumar broke JD(U)’s 17-year-old alliance with BJP, he has been going back and forth on his alliance with RJD. This indicates a deep crisis in India’s electoral democracy, where voters are taken for granted and leaders play truant. (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 4, Story 6).

The Calcutta High Court (Kolkata) recently set aside a notice whereby a member of the Agrahari Sikh community (name withheld) was excommunicated by the office bearers of Gurdwara Chhota Sikh Sangat on 19 Sep 2023. The excommunication was related to a matrimonial dispute between the petitioner’s son and daughter-in-law. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya on 22 Jan restrained the respondents from excommunicating the petitioners and directed three of the respondents to individually pay $600 each to the petitioner (total $1,800) for the ‘severe harassment and trauma’ suffered by the petitioner. The Court further observed that the reasons cited for excommunication had nothing to do with religion. Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, during the COVID-19 years, the Sikligar Sikhs could not go out to sell their wares and were reduced to penury. That is when the Telangana Sikh Society (TSS), formed in 2018, stepped in. From community kitchens and supplying grains to financial support during the lockdown, the TSS took care of the overall long-term health and housing needs of Sikligar Sikhs and equipped them with better skills and education. So far, TSS has met the hospitalization needs of over 1,500 patients, and held 18 health camps, which helped identify 5,000 patients afflicted with chronic illnesses. ‘Duty towards the downtrodden is integral to Sikhs,’ says Tejdeep Kaur Menon, a retired IPS officer, who was elected the TSS president for a second time in September 2023. TSS is also helping Sikligar Sikhs get permanent housing and title rights for land.